Sorry, I've been busy over here & missed this post. I can totally understand the desperation you feel. Matilda slept through the night the first time when she was around.... 3.
She had silent reflux as a bub, she also had recurrant ear infections and tonsilitis. She lost weight and no one took us seriously. We had tests for lactose intolerance and other things. She didn't sleep.
It was hell on earth. Matilda is also extremely active and was climbing out of her cot at 16 months. So she had to go into a junior bed. That helped things, it took her a few weeks to get into it but it helped her having a pillow.
We also found that she was allergic to milk near 3 yrs old and it took 4 weeks off milk for her to start sleeping. The milk allergy caused her reflux. All her reflux symptoms and issues and tonsilitis and weight loss.... everything.
So now I generally suggest getting allergy tested as well. Just in case, cover all bases.
I suggest you see an osteopath - I took my refluxy non-sleeping DD2 to one and there was an instant improvement. There's a connective tissue thingy that affects their gastric production and if the neck/back/shoulders whatever are out of alignment (usually due to birth or positioning in the womb) then it's irritated and that's when the reflux happens, and that flows onto their sleep. Sorry that's probably not a very good explanation but the osteopathy really does work. It's worth a try!
Firstly when I was still BF (did so till 16mths) we both went diary free for 6 wks it changed nothing. But maybe doing allergy testing is a good idea, how do we go about that???? Also she already sleeps on a pillow.
As for the Osteopath she see's a chiro once a month and has done since very early, but maybe we should try osteopath instead, funnily enough someone from my mothers group was talking about a good one today.
Tonight she managed to sleep for 1 hour, my DH is currently trying to get her back to sleep, but every time he puts her down she crys, its taking longer and longer to get her down. She sleeps usually 30 min then awake, then it takes 30 min to get her back to sleep and this goes on till we go to bed and she can come in with us. I am just so tired of my life being about running back and forth to her, that is our life we dont have anything else.
Do you think putting her straight into our bed instead of the cot may help her???? I am just so out of ideas and nothing ever changes it just gets worse....
Anyway I'm feeling sorry for myself - sorry! Thanks for all the great advice its so nice to have help.
I know how you feel. I remember when Matilda was 2 and I hadn't had a full nights sleep in 2 years. I was a complete mess, I told someone today I have no idea how I survived it.
Okay, On the big bed we did:
1 week of me sitting on the bed patting her to sleep in my arms, than 1 week of her laying in her bed with me patting her and laying next to her, than 1 week of me sitting on the bed patting her, than 1 year of me sitting at the end of the bed. She is 4 now and I hold her hand while she falls asleep and it only takes 15 minutes now. When she was two it could take up to 2 hours...
We started with her in our room in the junior bed next to ours, so if she woke she was right there next to me and all she had to do was reach over and hold my hand. This wasn't until she was around 2 1/2 though.... before that when she woke she would scream and cry...
I hear you on the milk diet... I breastfed my second until she was 18 months and consumed not one iota of dairy in that time. Even now we don't keep any products with cows milk in them in our house. Nothing... no biscuits, nothing. Yesterday Matilda had chicken nuggets as a treat, and today she has diarrhoea... just because the coating on the nuggets has milk powder in it. So in our house its a serious thing.
OK – just got back from getting DD down. Turns out DH wasn’t even trying to put her down, she would just start crying, then would settle, then would start crying again. When she cried she wasn’t instantly consolable, and we get the back arching and bad breath etc. etc. We’ve recently scaled back her Zantac dosage (as we think it gives her wind) and at the same time she has had a little growth spurt – DH thinks she has reflux again. We have another RCH appointment next Tuesday which is timely, but guess its back to full Zantac dose.
Thanks for your comments – nice to know we aren’t alone, but so sorry to hear all your stories, I have no idea some days how I make it through, so know how you are feeling / felt. I don’t mind her waking, just not every 30 min, give me a few hours break.
I’m going to try what Christy suggested about the whole getting her into bed without rocking, thanks for that. I don’t mind it talking months, just want a plan of action with a time frame, so big thank you!!!! That is just terrible about the milk how do you cope, guess I shouldn't complain too much.
its hard work.
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